Don't Move to the Suburbs
by Sameuspegasus
Summary: Lisa Braeden's neighbour has always thought something was a little strange about Lisa's new boyfriend. His suspicions are confirmed when a guy in a trenchcoat leaves a hole in the house. AU post season 5.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own or have any association with Supernatural. Not for profit.**

**A/N: I would appreciate any reviews. This is very different to how I usually write, and I would love opinions.**

Sid's always thought there was something a little strange about Lisa Braeden's new boyfriend. Dean's nice enough, sure, but he's jumpy and seems like he's not quite sure how to behave. Not to mention that he just showed up one day out of nowhere and never left. But Sid's a good neighbour and a nice guy, and can kind of identify with the feeling of being out of place, so he makes an effort. He goes out for a beer with Dean once a week, and teaches him to play golf, and they talk about cars and baseball and life. Well, mostly Sid talks. Dean sits with him and looks handsome and throws in a few anecdotes that Sid can't help but think have been heavily edited.

It's not till Dean's been staying with Lisa and Ben for six months, and Sid and his wife are at their place for dinner that Sid starts to suspect that it's more than a hard life that's weighing Dean down. They're at the table, finishing the last crumbs of the apple pie. Lisa's just made a joke, and Dean's laughing this open, warm, genuine laugh that Sid's never heard before. There's light in his eyes as he looks at Lisa and Ben. Sid is just realising he truly considers Dean a friend when it happens. There's a crash like a truck running into the side of the house. Dean is out of his seat and heading to investigate in less than a second, and everyone follows even though he tells them not to.

There's a hole in the side of the house, like something heavy has smashed into it at high speed, and in front of it is a guy in a trench coat. He's lying on the ground and his face is twisted in pain. The porch light casts a yellow light over him, and Sid can see blue eyes staring out through the pain.

Dean leaps off the porch and runs to him, and Sid realises Dean knows the guy.

That's when it gets weird.

"Cas? What happened? What's wrong with you?" Sid can hear the worry in Dean's voice as Dean kneels by the guy.

"That's Cas?" He hears Lisa ask, almost to herself. He thinks he can hear wonder in her voice, but he's not sure why.

"They tore off my wings, Dean," the guy – Cas – says. The pain is clear in his voice, but there's not a scratch visible on him. "They tore off my wings..." He trails off and collapses further onto the ground.

Dean's freaking out and sounds like he's trying not to cry. "No. No, Cas, man don't you dare die on me. Not again."

Sid's so taken aback by that that he almost forgets what he was going to say, which was: "I'll call an ambulance."

Dean says, "No."

At the same time, his friend says, his voice strained and wavering, "My vessel is undamaged."

Lisa tugs them all back into the house. Sid can hear Dean pleading. "I don't know what to do, Cas. Please, Cas, just tell me how to fix this. You're gonna be fine, I promise."

Dean half carries, half drags his friend into the living room and lays him on the couch gently. Sid wants to help, but Lisa holds him back with a shake of the head, and they all just stand there awkwardly as the guy moans in pain, and Dean urgently attempts to heal his clearly undamaged body.

"We don't have time for this, Dean," The guy growls in a rough voice that would have been stern if not for the fact that he was saying it while his whole body spasms in pain.

"Are you sure we shouldn't call an ambulance?" Sid's wife asks worriedly.

Dean and Cas don't hear him.

"What do you mean?"

"They're coming for you, Dean. We need to hide."

Dean orders them to the basement, then. When Sid tries to protest, Dean pulls a silver handgun from the waistband of his jeans, and they all do what he says. And now they're all in the basement, and Dean has locked and barred all the exits. If it was just that, being locked in a basement by some kind of gangster and his insane friend, well, Sid wouldn't be happy about it, but he's pretty sure he would be able to stave off the panic and try to come up with a plan. But now Dean is painting patterns on the walls in his friend's blood, and there's some kind of weird light coming off Cas, who's trembling and looks like he might be going into shock.

Lisa and Ben are asking Dean questions: "How can I help?" "Is this like the time with the changelings?" "Is that Cas – like _Cas_ Cas?"

Sid holds his wife close and tells her he loves her. She tells him she's sorry she made him move to the suburbs, which are clearly full of Satan-Worshipping nutjobs. They stay like that for a long time.

"Dean, stop for a second," Lisa orders.

He pauses, blood dripping from his fingers as she demands an explanation. "Look, I swear I'll tell you everything, but it's really important I finish this."

When Dean finishes his blood-picture, he says something in a language Sid doesn't recognise, and then he beckons them all over to the corner where the guy in the trench coat is slumped on a mattress that looks like it's been there for years.

Dean's kneeling by him, and they're looking at each other, and Sid thinks they might be more than just friends.

"How're you doin', Cas?"

"I am not dead."

Sid takes that to mean he couldn't think of anything more positive to say, and it's really weird because the pain is clearly genuine, even though he has no visible wounds except where he cut arm to get the blood Dean drew on the walls with.

"Dammit, Cas."

"My true form is damaged, Dean. There is nothing you can do."

"Your wings, will they grow back?"

"I doubt it."

Dean looks desperately sad, and not at all like the pleasant suburbanite Sid's been going for beers with for the last six months, or the psychopath who'd been drawing on the walls in blood a minute ago. It's almost like he believes that his friend's wings have been torn off.

"Hello," Cas says, addressing the other people present for the first time. "My name is Castiel. I'm an angel of the Lord."

Castiel, angel of the Lord, sits up, despite Dean's protests.

"Did you really get exploded?" Ben asks, and the whole situation gets even weirder because it kind of seems like Ben and Lisa believe this slender man with the rumpled suit and crazy eyes when he says he's an angel.

"Twice," Castiel says, and wavers slightly where he sits. Dean reaches across to steady him.

Sid looks around desperately. Maybe if he can find a hammer or a piece of wood, he can knock Dean out while he's distracted, and make a run for it.

Castiel looks at him, and the big blue eyes seem to see further than the surface. "It would not be advisable to escape," he says, but it's not like a threat, more like a warning that he won't like what's waiting for him outside. And that's terrifying, because what could be more scary than this.

There is an enormous crash of thunder. The basement trembles. It's almost like something is trying to get in.

"How long will the blood sigils hold?" Dean asks.

"Not indefinitely," Castiel, angel of the Lord replies.

Sid thinks he might have peed himself a little. Something is definitely trying to get in. It's ramming against the ceiling. The rafters are shaking in their joists. The light bulb explodes.

"Someone needs to explain what the hell is going on right now," Lisa's voice demands in the darkness.

"I sincerely doubt you will find the explanation reassuring," Castiel's voice rumbles tiredly.

"Lie back down, Cas," Dean says. He pulls a small flashlight out of somewhere. Sid doesn't know where he's been keeping it – he never seemed to have anything in his pockets – but then, Sid didn't know Dean carried a gun in the small of his back either.

Sid's not sure it makes him feel better to know he'll see it coming when he dies.

"Tell us anyway."

So Dean tells them, while the basement trembles and the thunder roars, and tiny bits of ceiling rain down on them, that the thing trying to get into the basement is an angry archangel who wants to restart the apocalypse.

Which is ridiculous, because there hasn't even been a first apocalypse. Sid is at least seventy-five percent sure that it's a gang with heavy machinery trying to get in. Okay, maybe sixty-five.

"What if he gets in?" Sid's wife asks, her voice shaking. Even she, the most sensible woman he knows, has started to believe it.

"I am... much weakened... I doubt there is anything I can do..." Castiel trails off. He sounds much weakened.

Dean hands the flashlight to Lisa, and kneels over his friend, swearing quietly and murmuring things he thinks no-one can hear about Cas not being allowed to die.

Cas says: "My injuries are comparable to you having your arms ripped off, Dean, I am having difficulty healing."

When Dean stands up, Cas is sleeping, trying to heal, and Dean is holding a silver-white blade that seemed to come from nowhere.

"If he gets in, I'll kill him," Dean says with grim determination, and Sid doesn't doubt that Dean could win a fight with an archangel.

When a section of the ceiling caves in entirely, Sid gives up pretending it's gang related and follows Dean's instructions, tipping something called holy oil in various uneven circles on the floor. The last one he draws is around himself, his wife, Lisa, Ben and the unconscious Castiel. He makes sure the ends meet, and throws his lighter on it. The flames light up the whole basement, and Dean, standing ready for the confrontation, an angel-blade in one hand and a lighter in the other.

Lisa shouts at him: "Dean Winchester, you better not die."

Sid realises he's never even known Dean's real last name.

The ceiling collapses on the other side of the room, and now there's another man in there, and there's lightning coming from his shoulders. He stalks toward Dean.

"Dean Winchester," he snarls.

Dean snarls right back. "Raphael."

Sid trembles. His wife is crying.

Dean flicks his lighter and throws it. A ring of fire flickers up around the archangel. "You should really work on the whole holy fire thing, it gets you every time," Dean says smugly.

"Just because I am imprisoned it doesn't mean I am powerless. Give me one reason not to smite you where you stand." Thunder rings in Raphael's voice.

"When I come back, I'll be pissed," says Dean, and he glows in the light of the fires. He seems more than human and he strides towards the archangel.

Sid wants to ask if Dean's an angel too, but it doesn't really seem like the time.

"You can't kill me, you stupid man. The only thing that can kill an angel is another angel."

"I can show you how it feels to have your wings cut off," Dean growls. He's nearly at the wall of fire.

"You would torture an angel? But of course you would. We had you torture Alastair and saw you enjoy it."

Dean falters. "But then again, I did kill Zachariah, so maybe that 'only an angel' thing is a myth."

He is almost stepping over the ring of flame, the shadows playing on the hard planes of his face, when Castiel's voice interrupts. It's stronger now, and doesn't waver, instead ringing deep and stern. "No, Dean," he says, and then, "Close your eyes. All of you."

Sid obeys, but is still sent reeling backwards by the wave of air and light that rushes through the room.

When he opens his eyes, the flames are still burning, but Raphael is gone. Dean puts out the fire around them, carries Cas up the stairs, leaving the others to follow on shaking legs. They go next door to Sid's house and gather in the living room with the strongest liquor in the house. Dean hugs Lisa and Ben and checks everyone's okay, and then proceeds to yell at Cas for several minutes about being reckless and things being dangerous and what if the banishing sigil had got him too.

Sid is too dazed and shocky to really understand what had happened, but he gathers Castiel had painted some kind of spell on the ground in his own blood and it had blown Raphael out of the holy fire, killing him.

They give Ben and Lisa the spare room, and Castiel the couch. Dean sleeps on the floor beside his angel. Sid takes three sleeping pills and doesn't suggest painting protective symbols on the wall because it seems like the angel is running out of blood.

He holds his wife close in bed. Tomorrow they are moving to New Zealand.


	2. Chapter 2

Sid's been lying in bed for fifteen minutes, trying to decide whether to get up and turn the light on or not. Is it better to be visible but able to see something coming, or to hide in the dark? It hits him after a few minutes of lying there, not sleeping, that they can't move to New Zealand the next day. They don't have the money. They spent it all on this damned house in the suburbs. So he lies there in the dark, and holds his wife, and worries.

The decision is made for him a few minutes later when the whimpers coming from the living room become too loud to ignore. He gets up, and his wife comes too, and they bring the bedspread, because it's thick and warm and makes them feel safe, even though it will trip them up if they try to run, or catch fire if they stand within three feet of an open flame.

The lights are on in the living room, and everyone is there. Ben is tense and stands close to his mother, who is speaking quietly to Dean. Dean's hardly even acknowledging her. He's bent over his thrashing friend (the angel of the Lord), his hands on Castiel's chest like he's trying to hold in the strange light that's trying to escape. Sid and his wife stand awkwardly in the corner of their living room, wrapped in a bedspread, and try to think of a way to help.

The scene stays like that for hours, with Dean growling and whispering and occasionally yelling at his friend, and Lisa trying to comfort Dean, and Ben trying to be helpful and pretending not to be scared. Everyone seems to have forgotten Sid even though it's his house they're in. And through it all, Castiel shudders on the sofa, and moans and lets out strangled little cries. The light recedes into his body and escapes and recedes, over and over. It's almost funny that it's not the weirdest thing Sid's ever seen.

Dean is talking. He's taken his hands off Cas, and he's standing in the middle of the living room, talking at the ceiling. "You bastard," he says, "What did Cas ever do to you? He was faithful. He was the only faithful one. How can you just let this happen? YOU BASTARD!" And then he just loses it completely and yells until Lisa comes over and rubs his back and makes him look at her. Sid wonders for a moment what the light fixture ever did to Dean before he realises that Dean was talking to God. Because God is real. Literally. And so are angels. The shock hits him belatedly and he has to sit down. The sleeping pills kick in.

Morning light is seeping in through the gap between the curtains when Sid wakes up. Castiel stops moving. The light returns to his body a final time, and he stops whimpering. There is a strange silence. It's like the sounds of pain have been so constant it's no longer normal without them.

"Cas?" Dean whispers. The worry lines on his face and the tension in his shoulders don't suit him. Sid remembers seeing him laugh yesterday. He was like a different person. Like someone he could have been.

Castiel's eyes snap open. They are clear and blue and sharp. "It is not safe here," he says, struggling to sit up.

"Oh, thank God," Lisa breaths.

"God had very little to do with it," Castiel says. He is looking at Dean.

Sid realises later that day that Castiel is very rarely not looking at Dean.

They spend the next hour packing things up. They have to leave. Apparently Sid's idea of moving to New Zealand hadn't been a bad idea, only they can't get to New Zealand, so they're going to South Dakota instead. At least for now.

Castiel, angel of the Lord, draws lines of sigils on their backs, over their ribcages. He says something about carving it into their ribcages, and Sid is excessively glad when Dean vetoes that idea. Dean doesn't give a reason, but everyone knows it's because Castiel's angel powers are leaking out. Dean and Cas spend the morning very loudly not talking about it.

They drive to South Dakota in Dean's car. It's a beautiful 1967 Chevy Impala, and Sid's surprised Dean hasn't talked about it more, because he clearly loves it. But then there's a lot of stuff Dean left out when he talked about his life. Sid thinks it's probably magic, because it fits them all in, along with the small amount of stuff they're taking. It's a mark of the last day that Sid hardly even flinches when he sees all the weapons in the trunk.

It takes them eleven hours and thirteen minutes to get to Sioux Falls. Dean drives the whole way. He drives too fast and Sid knows he hasn't slept for at least 32 hours, Dean's face is hard and Sid is kind of scared of him. Anyway, Dean is clearly not letting anyone else drive the car. It's quiet except for the engine noise. Castiel, angel of the Lord, sits in the front seat and stares at Dean and pretends he's not in pain. They don't talk. The rest of them are squeezed across the back seat, and no-one says a word until four hours in, when Lisa insists on a bathroom break.

The 'safe place' in Sioux Falls turns out to be a junkyard. They are greeted by a grumpy older guy who is probably an alcoholic, considering the way he's forcing beer on them at 10am. Sid can only manage a couple of mouthfuls, but the guy seems satisfied.

"More angels, huh?" He says, and shuts them in a cell in the basement. Dean brings his beer and looks like he wishes it was whisky.

The prison cell turns out to be a safe room. It's made of salted iron, which Sid is surprised hasn't rusted. There are sigils and spell-work, and an exceptionally heavy door. There's also a very carefully engineered air vent. Dean tells him it's in the shape of a devil's trap, and doesn't elaborate. Dean's very quiet. He keeps looking at things and quickly looking away, a muscle twitching in his jaw. Castiel catches his friend's eye and doesn't say anything.

The safe room is too small for six people, and when Bobby (alcoholic), finds the books he needs, he's going to join them. Sid's not claustrophobic, but he thinks Ben might be, and there's definitely something wrong with Dean.

Dean makes Castiel (angel of the Lord), lie on the fold out cot, under the poster of Bo Derek. Castiel is trembling again, tired after the short walk from the car. Dean stands at the end of his bed and watches him sleep.

Bobby comes in with a pile of books and some food. They talk about strategy and lore and armies of angels. Dean seems to liven up a little. He's all business, and he's really good at his job. But then Bobby makes some kind of offhand comment about needing someone called Sam (who Dean's never mentioned) to help with the research. Dean's face closes off and he reaches for the whisky hidden under the desk. He turns away and quickly and efficiently disassembles his silver handgun. He starts to clean it. Sid starts to think maybe he was right about Dean being unstable. His wife can't take her eyes off the gun. He hopes Dean doesn't decide the easiest way out of the situation is to shoot them all. Because Dean kind of looks like he wants to.

Sid really, really misses his old life. He doesn't want to face an army of angels. He wants to play golf.

Raphael's army comes in the night. They can tell by the sudden storm that shakes the house. They're going to have to fight. This is their army: A weak angel with no wings; a businessman and his wife; a yoga instructor and her pre-teen son; an aging alcoholic (admittedly with some awesome general knowledge); and a slightly drunk, slightly crazy construction worker with a no-longer-secret life.

Dean wakes Castiel up by sitting on the edge of the cot and asking what he's dreaming about.

They leave the panic room not long after that. Dean makes a protesting Ben stay behind and doesn't even consider his arguments. Sid notices Dean doesn't suggest anyone else stays in the panic room. He knows he would jump at the chance, and he'd feel much better if his wife was in there. She's taken to the whole angelic war with much more enthusiasm than he'd like, and has spent the time in the panic room asking Bobby intelligent questions in the practical way that had made her so good at her job before she gave it up to start a family. She's holding a Molotov cocktail made out of holy oil, a weapon favoured by the angel Castiel. Sid kind of wishes he'd got that job instead of the 'painting on the wall in blood' task.

The angels can't get into Bobby's house. There's some kind of angel proofing on it. But it's shaking so much the piles of books are falling over.

When they get to the door to outside, Sid finds he really doesn't want to know what's on the other side. But someone's got to save the world, and Sid's going to feel really bad about it afterwards if he chickens out.

Dean throws the door open and they go out. Dean and Castiel go first. Dean's got a holy-oil flamethrower, but he doesn't really want to use it. Their holy oil supply is limited, and Castiel can't fly to Jerusalem for more. Castiel stands beside him. He can hardly walk, but he's got a silver-white blade in each hand, and his trench coat swishes behind him as he moves. Even with his wings ripped off, he's stronger than any of them. They're followed by the two women with their cocktails. Bobby and Sid bring up the rear. Bobby has a bowl with spell ingredients in it. Sid has a bleeding hand.

They are met by five angels: two young men, a young woman, an elderly man, and a somewhat androgynous child who can't be more than ten. They are all beautiful, and all terrifying. They have hard eyes and crackle with electricity. The lights all go out. Clouds cover the moon. All Sid can see are the angels, who shine in the darkness.

The angels have a fondness for showmanship. It is their weakness, and the only reason the humans last more than a minute.

The child steps forward. "Surrender," it demands.

"Go screw yourself, jackass," Dean says.

The angel does not take it well. "I'm hurt, Dean. And you were so eager to help us once."

Castiel steps forward so he's slightly in front of Dean. He looks angry. His hands tighten on his weapons. Sid is very glad he'd not between the angels.

"Aww, Castiel, always ready to protect your precious Righteous Man. But you have no wings now, brother. Your grace is leaking out."

Sid can hear the capital letters on 'Righteous Man', but he's not sure what it means. From the way Castiel is standing protectively in front of Dean, he thinks it might be some kind of gay joke.

Bobby tears his eyes from the four larger angels, who appear to be there for the sole purpose of looming menacingly in the background. He catches Sid's eye. That's the sign.

Sid misses most of what the angels are threatening Dean and Cas about. Something to do with needing something Dean has to open a cage and free someone. He hears the word brother in there, and Dean losing his temper and yelling at the angel, which basically amounts to suicide. But then the symbol is drawn in Sid's blood, and Bobby does his spell, and the two women throw their cocktails. Sid plants his hand in the centre of the sigil. There are a lot of explosions.

When the flames die down, there are two sets of angel wings burned into the ground. Everyone is covered in splatter. It's disgusting. Dean's limping, and panicking because Castiel's missing, and doesn't breathe until they find the angel unconscious where he's been flung against the wall of the house by the blood spell. There's a dent in the siding. The wood is cracked.

Sid's life has become so strange that it's almost funny what a problem Castiel has with houses.

There's no sign of the other three angels (the one's that aren't dead, with their wings burnt into the ground), and so they retreat back into the house. Lisa gets first shower because she has the most teeth in her hair.

They stay the night in the panic room, all seven of them. Ben asks lots of questions which Bobby gives slightly edited answers to. They finish the bottle of whisky.

The next morning, Sid and his wife call the real estate agent and organise to sell the house. This time they really are moving to New Zealand.


End file.
